I fell in love with this song back in the mid-90’s when I traveled from Champaign, IL to the Irish American Heritage Center in Chicago to see The Makem Brothers perform. I was in the “market” for a new ballad and this one hit the spot. The only problem was that everyone else started playing it as well. I tucked it away and went back to it now and again. It’s a great song and fun and easy to play on frailing / clawhammer banjo.

Rose Of Allendale (PDF)

The Rose of Allendale

The[G] morning was fair,the[C] sky’s were[G] clear
No breath came o;re the[D] sea
When[G] Mary left her[C] highland[G] home
And[C] wandered[D] forth with[G] me
Though[D] flowers decked the[G] mountain side
And[C] fragrance[G] filled the[D] vale
By[G] far the sweetest[C] flower[G] there
Was the[C] rose of[D] Allen[G]dale

[Chorus]
Was[G] the rose of Allen[C]dale,was the[Am] rose of Allen[D]dale
By[C] far the sweetest[G] flower there,was the[C] rose of [D7]Allen[G]dale

Where’er I wandered east or west,
Tho’faith began to lour
A solace still she was to me
In sorrow’s lonely hour
When tempest lashed our lonely barque
And rent her shivring sail
One maiden form withstood the storm
‘Twas the rose of Allendale

And when my fever’d lips were parched
On Afrie’s burning sands
She whispered hopes of happiness
And tales of distant lands
My life has been a wilderness
Unbiest by fortune’s gale
Had faith not linked my lot to hers
The rose of Allendale

I’m back after getting my butt kicked by DDP! Donegal Danny was a request and I had fun doing it, even though my family thought that it would be funny to try to throw me off by showing me pictures of Karen Gillan while I was recording.

Have fun with it and remember that all of the melody notes are in the first four frets.

Donegal Danny (PDF)

Donegal Danny

I [G]remember the night when [C]he came [G]in from the [C]wintry cold and [G]damp

A giant of a man in an [Em]oilskin coat and a [Am]bundle which showed he was a [D7]tramp

He [G]stood at the bar and [C]called for a [G]pint and [C]turned to gaze into the [G]fire

On a night like this to be [Em]safe and warm Is my [Am]one and only [D7]desire

Chorus:

So [G]here’s to those that are [C]dead and [G]gone The friends that I left [D7]here

And [G]here’s to you then I’ll [C]bid you [G]adieu

Since Donegal [D7]Danny’s been [G]here me [Em]boys, [G]Donegal [D7]Danny’s been [G]here

Then in a voice that was hushed and low he said: listen I’ll tell you a tale
How a man of the sea became a man of the road and never more will set sail
I’ve fished out of Howth and Killybegs, Ardglass and Baltimore
But the cruel sea has beaten me and I’ll end me days on the shore

One fateful night in the wind and the rain we set sail from Killybeys town,
There were five of us from sweet Donegal and one from County Down,
We were fishermen who worked the sea and never counted the cost
But I never thought’ere that night was done that my fine friends would all be lost

Then the storm it broke and drove the boat to the rocks about ten miles from shore,
As we fought the tide we hoped inside to see our homes once more
Than we struck a rock and holed the bow and all of us knew that she’d go down
So we jumped right into the icy sea and prayed to God we wouldn’t drown

But the raging sea was rising still as we struck out for the land
And she fought with all her cruelty to claim that brilliant band
By St John’s point in the early dawn I dragged myself to the shore
And I cursed the sea for what she’d done and vowed to sail her never more

Ever since that night I’ve been on the road travelling and trying to forget
That awful night I lost all my friends, I see their faces yet
And oft times at night when the sea is high and the rain is tearing at me skin
I hear the cries of drowning men floating on the wind